Evaluating role of Mike Muscala in Sixers debut vs. Pistons

Evaluating role of Mike Muscala in Sixers debut vs. Pistons

Five days after Brett Brown stated Mike Muscala may be sidelined “for a while,” the Philadelphia 76ers revealed some good news. The offseason acquisition will be available to play tonight against the Detroit Pistons, courtesy of Serena Winters of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Muscala previously suffered an ankle injury during the preseason ahead of the season-opener in Boston. This is particularly good news for the Sixers, as earlier today Ben Simmons was downgraded to doubtful for tonight’s game.

The expectation has been all along that the former Atlanta Hawks forward would take over Ersan Ilyasova’s role from last season as the key stretch-four off the bench. Specifically tonight, the Sixers will need Muscala’s size against the two-headed monster of Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin.

Assuming Muscala is 100 percent Tuesday night, don’t be surprised to see him take on a heavy workload as a key member of the second unit.